


Fighting Over a Lady's Love

by NaniWrites



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Identity Reveal, Multi, Written before Heroes Day episodes came out, being in love with ladybug is a big mood, many of those ships are one-sided
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-07-18 10:14:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16116299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NaniWrites/pseuds/NaniWrites
Summary: Chat Noir, Queen Bee, and Rena Rouge are in love and arguing on who Ladybug loves more in the group. Carapace doesn't get it, and is constantly annoyed at the rest of the team. Meanwhile, Ladybug just wants the team to get along, and is stressing herself out over it. All of this equals to Ladybug and Carapace together on a rooftop...





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a really fluffy oneshot about everyone agreeing on how amazing and lovely Ladybug is, but then it got angsty and long...

Nino has just had the worst day of his life. Between incomplete homework to incomplete housework, he has never had so many people yell at him in just one day. Being a superhero means that he has to pick and choose what to do when he is not saving Paris from akuma attacks, and it is not completely his fault that he spends that time catching up on sleep and mixing some new music. The only time that he truly feels free without any constraints is when he is transformed into Carapace, running on rooftops with magic pulsing around him.

Ladybug and Chat Noir a few months back decided on having patrols which consisted of two members of their team would go out for a night or two during the week and stop crimes. Some nights were slow, and the two partnered up would meet and greet people on the streets or would do mini teambuilding exercises. Two weeks ago, Carapace and Chat Noir went out on a quiet night and Carapace thought it was a great idea to start sparring. Considering he is much better defense than offense, it is safe to say that he still regrets that whole night and thank Wayzz that his suit is so tough. Though he knows he is not the only one with the same experience since Ladybug must have really kicked Queen Bee’s ass since the next day when Queen Bee and Carapace patrolled together she never mentioned Ladybug once.

Tonight was not a normal patrol though. At the beginning of each month all five of them meet to discuss how patrol has gone, new ideas on what to do on patrol, and setting up a new schedule for the month. Carapace always enjoys these days, especially since it is a time he can see his whole team together without having the stress of dealing with an akuma. He is ready to have a blast with his friends and forget all about the disappointed looks that he has been giving all day. He really thought that he was going to have a nice night, and then he heard three agitated voices.

“I don’t even understand why we are arguing about this. I clearly love her more and she obviously loves me back. She is even my best friend out of the mask and hung out with me way before I even got my miraculous. All that alone time together really made us _close_.” Queen Bee’s voice is very loud and unique, so Carapace has no problem hearing her from a couple of rooftops over. 

As he gets closer he starts hearing an irritated Chat Noir say, “I think you are both forgetting that we were partners first, and she without a doubt cares about me. We have been best friends since we were both thrown into this. The longevity of our partnership and the fact we could only rely on each other that whole time proves that she cares about me more.” That is when Carapace realized that their bickering as because of everyone’s favourite heroine, Ladybug.

Queen Bee starts snickering and says, “I’m sorry, didn’t she reject you? You really are a clingy cat, aren’t you?” Pleased with herself she leans back on the roof propping herself up with both arms. 

Carapace finally land at their meeting spot and sees the distasteful look that Chat Noir is giving Queen Bee, and Rena Rouge is off to the side looking like she wished that she brought popcorn. Everyone in the group knows that the topic of relationships is off limits around Chat Noir. Sure, he has said many times that he is happy being her friend and he has even toned down the flirting, but anyone can tell that he is still in love with her and it hurts him every time they are with each other. Chat Noir growls, “Shut up, Queenie! You know I don’t care if Ladybug likes me romantically or not!” Chat Noir takes deep breaths to try to calm down before continuing in a strained voice, “Ladybug and I are yin and yang, creation and destruction. We literally complete each other. With that comes the love and trust Ladybug and I have together, and none of you will understand that.”

Rena Rouge rolls her eyes. “Damn, Chat, loosen up. Just because we are not all magically connected to her like you are doesn’t mean we can’t love her, or she can’t love us. I think your also forgetting that I was the first on Ladybug’s list to get a miraculous, so obviously I must be important to her too.” She said firmly crossing her arms over her chest.

“Rena, don’t you already have a boyfriend? Why should this matter to you?” Carapace says in an exasperating tone. He just wanted to have a nice evening with his friends, but of course that even people in this part of his life have to be unhappy too. 

He hates whenever the topic of Ladybug and who she cares for more comes up, especially when everyone gets so petty. It started way before when it was still a duo saving Paris and not a team, with Chat getting over-protective of Ladybug and always taking the hits for her. Everyone on the team recognizes that Ladybug is essential to defeating the akumas, so they all have an unspoken agreement to protect her no matter the cost. Though Chat hasn’t quite learned how to share the affection that Ladybug gives to whoever got hit the hardest by the akuma. Carapace knows that Chat was cool when they were all temporary heroes, but once they got their miraculouses permanently it hit him hard. Late nights with Chat taught him that he was terrified of being replaced, and his civilian self doesn’t get as much love and care so looks for that in Ladybug.

Then, Ladybug was Queen Bee’s sexual awakening and the reason why she now comfortably identifies as a lesbian. Mix that with her bluntness, over-the-top ego, and an attitude that suggests that everyone should worship her, Queenie firmly believes that Ladybug should love her more. Ever since she was first chosen as a hero everyone has known that she is Chloe Bourgeois, and as Chloe, she has met Ladybug on a number of occasions. Though if they were actually friends or not behind the masks is a mystery that no one tries to fight her on. 

Finally, there was Rena, who Carapace feels like he knows the least about. Why she keeps putting herself into these conversations is a mystery, but he has a theory that she gets amused by this ongoing quarrel. Rather that or Rena truly cares about Ladybug and she is important somehow in Rena’s civilian life. Either way, Carapace is constantly confused as to why everyone he knows, both in and out of the mask, is in love with Ladybug.

Everyone turned to look at Carapace, acknowledging for the first time that he was there. Chat Noir was the first to speak, “Hey, dude! Maybe you can help us out settle this disagreement that I have clearly won.” He puts his arm around Carapace’s shoulders and flashes his most charismatic smile that he must practice for how genuine it seems.

Carapace removes the arm around him and looks Chat Noir dead in the eye with the most unimpressed face. “No.”

“You’re such a buzzkill,” says Queen Bee flipping her ponytail, “Just admit that I’m better than this stupid cat. I mean, who would want a partner that always ends up under an akuma’s control?”

Carapace puts his arm out to prevent Chat from pouncing on her. “Calm down, Chat! It is always the same stupid argument with all you dudes. Ladybug is her own person and can decide herself how many close relationships she wants. Also, what would she think if she saw what was going on here? We all know that she could take our miraculouses if she has to, and I don’t know about you guys, but I quite like being Carapace,” he scolds.

“He is right you know,” says Ladybug finally revealing herself from where she was hiding a rooftop over. Once she swings in, she puts her hands on her waist and gives them all the dirtiest look. “We are a team and if some of your personal feelings are affecting the job then I suggest you give up your miraculous now.”

Everyone just stares at each other, feeling guilty about being caught in such a trivial fight. The rest of the night continues awkwardly with stilted conversation and many moments of silence. It was definitely not the stress relieving night that Carapace was hoping for. Usually once all of the serious talk was done they would all just hang out and have some fun, but tonight they all end up leaving rather quickly until it is only Ladybug and Carapace left on the rooftop.

“Since you seem to be one of the only sane people in the group, thank you for trying to diffuse the situation earlier.” Ladybug gives him a warm smile until a frown appears on her face again. “I just wish that they would stop fighting over me. Chat and I have talked about his feelings before and I know that he is still trying to work through his abandonment issues, but I don’t know how much tension between all of us I can take. It is also not helpful that Queen Bee has always hated Chat, even before she got her miraculous. She is probably trying to rile him up. Do you think I should talk to her?” 

Carapace looks over to Ladybug and can physically see how stressed she is over this. The whole team sees Ladybug and Chat Noir as their leaders, so combining the anxiety of commanding everyone to the pressure of being the only one that can purify the akumas, being Ladybug has taken a toll on her. Carapace also has no idea her life is like behind the mask, so she could be in an even worse mental health space than he thinks. Putting a hand on her shoulder he says, “You are probably the only one that can get through to Queen Bee. Dude won’t listen to anyone else. Listen, LB, if you ever need me for anything, and I really mean anything, I am here to help you. If you really want to just take a couple nights of patrol off and I can do them for you. You care so much about other people’s feeling that you need to start caring for yourself too.”

Tears start gushing out as she sobs. Carapace steps forward and hugs her tightly. He usually panics when around crying people, so he continues to comfort her with the embrace, waiting for her to eventually calm down on her own. Even though he sometimes doesn’t know how to handle them, he cares a lot about other people’s emotions, as can be seen with how he was once akumatized. Ladybug a couple of minutes later pulls away from him and rubs her cheeks to get rid of the tears. Her voice is wavering when she says, “Thanks, I really needed that.” 

Carapace strokes her arms. “Like I said before, I am here whenever you need me.”

“Sometimes it is hard to find someone to just cry to. I can’t with my family because they don’t know about me being Ladybug and I would hate for them to worry about me. My friends are also so stubborn that they won’t let it go and will demand answers that I can’t give them. I also feel like I need to be strong in front of the team all the time too. Before I would talk to Chat, but even that felt to limited because of our masks. And now I feel as if we are drifting apart a bit. Of course, I still love and trust him, but he has his own issues to deal with, so I doubt he will care about me complaining all the time.”

“What about your kwami?”

“She’s the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, and she has the biggest heart in her tiny body. She is always so supportive in everything I do, but I feel like she is too perfect at times. A being that is thousands of years old giving me advice about my life is kind of intimidating at times.” 

“Yeah, I feel that. My little dude is quite the philosopher. Sometimes I just want to be a teenager and make mistakes that I will regret in 30 years instead of worrying about everything he blabbers on about.” Carapace really needs alcohol from how this evening ended up, but he knows that if he tries Wayzz will only complain the whole time.

Ladybug giggles at that. “Wayzz definitely acts like an old man with the wisdom he spouts sometimes.”

“Right, I keep forgetting that you have actually met him before.” It is sometimes weird to think that someone out in Paris held his miraculous recently, and is still a hidden guide for the team, even though only two of them have met him. “Hey, what about the dude who used to wield my miraculous? Can’t you talk to him?” 

Ladybug pauses for a moment with a contemplative look on her face. “I guess I could, but I usually only see him when there is an emergency. He heals people for a living, so maybe that’s exactly what my mind needs. Thanks, Ni – I mean Carapace.” She leans over and kisses him on the cheek.

“Like I’ve said a million times tonight, anytime.” He looks at her fondly and ruffles her hair. He knows exactly why his teammates love Ladybug so much, though it is a different feeling for him. He loves her like he would love a sibling, a comfortable and familiar love that he feels like he has felt before. “Now go on, go home and get some sleep. If your day tomorrow is anything like mine, then sleep is necessary.”

Ladybug laughs and throws her yoyo. Before she steps off the building she looks back to him and says, “Once again, thank you for listening to me and letting me cry on you.” He waves it off showing that it was no problem, then she jumps into the night, swinging throughout Paris.

He wishes that he could have done more, but he knows Ladybug’s limits when it comes to this. Carapace can only hope that some of Wayzz’s wisdom has passed on to him, and in turn, passed to Ladybug. But enough of worrying about that, he had an early morning tomorrow and a bed that will warmly embrace him soon. 

Though of course, he didn’t know things were going to get even more complicated when pictures of him and Ladybug up on the rooftop gets sent out to the world.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino has a productive weekend, gets shocked by the news, gets shocked by Alya, and has the worst Monday ever.

When Nino woke up this morning he felt energized and ready to face the day. It is the beginning of the weekend which means he has a whole two days to do the things he was yelled at for not doing the day before. He quickly turned off his phone so he wouldn’t be tempted to look at it. He also has already told everyone on Friday that he was going technology free during the weekend just so he could get caught up with everything that he has been slacking. Alya called him smart for thinking of that and wished that she could do the same, but the Ladyblog is too demanding. Not only did this tactic work, but by Sunday evening he managed to get ahead of his homework schedule by two weeks.

“You have made some great progress these past couple of days. I am quite proud.” Wayzz says flying over to Nino cuddling up to his cheek.

“Thanks, little dude, I couldn’t have done it without you.” Nino smiles at him and strokes his shell. If it wasn’t for Wayzz always motivating him and helping him figure out the material he couldn’t understand, Nino wouldn’t be as successful as he is now. He even helped clean Nino’s room which was definitely not an easy task. _Maybe I should make him his own playlist to thank him, and so he can chill during the day while I’m in class._

“You deserve a break, Master Nino.”

“You know how much I hate it when you call me that.”

Wayzz laughs and with a smirk he says, “I know.”

Nino chuckles and jumps onto his bed. For the first time in two days he turns on his phone and was pleased to see that his friends and girlfriend kept their promise of not messaging him. He sent a quick message to the group chat between him, Alya, Adrien, and Marinette to say that he was still alive, and immediately went to social media to see what he has missed. Though what he was seeing was definitely not what he was expecting.

**_Love Between Paris’ Superheroes?_ **

_On Friday night a few spectators were enjoying the nice weather when they saw Ladybug cuddling up with another one of Paris’ favourite superheroes, though not the one we were all expecting. It seems as if Ladybug might be more of a turtle fan rather than a cat one. Yes, you read correctly, Ladybug and one of the newer heroes, Carapace, were seen holding each other very closely and intimately up on a rooftop._

_One onlooker, Ruben Musquet, took the pictures that are shown below and had this to say, “We were trying to enjoy a nice night so we all went up on the roof of our apartment building, which is when we noticed Ladybug and Carapace. We just thought that they were running around like they usually do around Paris until they started hugging and stayed like that for about 10 minutes. Even when that was over they were still physically close to each other. That is when we really started thinking that something was going on between them. Our suspicions were confirmed when they kissed.”_

Nino was used to gossip and rumours about him being spread around but that last sentence made him do a double take. _When the hell did we kiss?_ He scrolls through the article to get to the pictures and sees grainy pictures of him and Ladybug. One of them hugging, one of him rubbing her arms when he was comforting her, and another of when he kissed his cheek. Though of course from the angle that the picture was taken from it looked like an actual mouth to mouth kiss.

Nino immediately starts panicking. He leaves that article and sees what the rest of the world is thinking about this.

**_Move over Ladynoir, Carabug is the newest ship in town._ **

**_Is Chat Noir jealous of the newest competitor to Ladybug’s heart?_ **

**_Top 10 reasons why Carabug is better than Ladynoir._ **

**_Top 15 reasons why Ladybug should be with Chat Noir instead of Carapace._ **

**_Is there tension between Team Miraculous?_ **

**_Every documented interaction between Ladybug and Carapace that will make you realize that this ship has been sailing for a long time._ ** ****

Nino has the feeling that he should avoid being Carapace for a while, especially around his teammates. Though he is still scheduled for a Monday night patrol which he is now currently dreading. Friday’s squabble of who loves Ladybug more is going to be minor compared to the yelling he is going to receive since his team must think that he and Ladybug are together. And poor Ladybug is already so stressed from everything, and this is definitely not going to help with that.

Nino’s mind goes to Alya, his actual girlfriend, and starts thinking how crushed she might be when she finds out Ladynoir is ruined, and hopefully that opinion will be quickly changed. He heads over to the Ladyblog to see what Alya has written to find that there haven’t been new posts since Friday. It is very unlike Alya to just ignore the Ladyblog. Even when there is no important news she always plugs in fan work and theories to keep things alive.

He tosses his phone away and sighs. He has patrol tomorrow night so for now he should just sit back and try not to think about how all of Paris thinks that him and Ladybug have a thing going on.

As evening turns into night, Nino realizes no one has messaged him back yet. He lies down in bed and wishes that Paris calms down by tomorrow.

* * *

Surprisingly, Nino is the first one of his friends to get to school. Thankfully he didn’t wait long until Adrien’s car pulled up to the school. 

Adrien starts getting out of the car and Nino yell, “Hey, dude!” He rushes over to see his friend and quickly stops once he takes a full look at his friend’s face.

“Hey, Nino” Adrien says in a weak voice. The boy was the definition of a hot mess. Disheveled hair, dark bags under his eyes that clearly shows the lack of sleep he has gotten, and eyes that look like he spent his weekend crying.

“Are you alright? What happened to you? Is it your dad again, because if it is I will literally fight him for you.” Nino wraps an arm around Adrien to try and comfort him as they walk towards the school.

Adrien cracks a small smile at that. “No, it’s not about my father, but thanks. It’s just this girl… I guess I thought we were closer than we actually are, and one-sided feelings kind of suck.”

Nino always had a feeling that there was someone in Adrien’s life, especially since he seemed to never consider anyone at school as a romantic choice. Also knowing how big of a romantic he is, it was weird that he hasn’t gone on millions of over-the-top dates. “Come on, dude, you’re a model! How can she not like you?” 

Adrien gives him a sad smile and says, “I guess looks aren’t everything.”

Nino cringes at his bad choice in words, and he turns Adrien to face him. “I know plenty of girls here that actually like you, and I know that you will get along with them. Don’t even think about rolling your eyes at me. Trust me when I say they actually like _you_ and not model you. You being hot is just an extra perk.”

He lightly chuckles at that and looks Nino in the eye. “Thank you.”

From all the advice he is giving out recently, he should change his career path from DJ to therapist.

One second, he is walking towards the school with Adrien, and the next he is being dragged away by Alya into a secluded part of the yard. When Nino realized where they were heading he was pretty excited to spend some quality time with his girlfriend, and then he looks at her and realizes that she, like Adrien, has also been crying.

Alya turns to face him and shoves her phone into his face. On it was the picture of his and Ladybug’s kiss. “Tell me what the hell is this?” Her voice was as fiery as her hair.

Nino just looks at her confused. “Uh, looks like Ladybug and Carapace hanging out?”

“Don’t do that to me, Nino, cut the bullshit. I know you are Carapace, so please, tell me what the hell this is.” Alya’s voice is strained, and she is trying to control her temper.

At this moment Nino felt his heart drop, because of course she knows and is misreading this situation. “Alya, I-.”

“You think you can become a superhero and cheat on me? Did you really think that I wouldn’t find out? This whole time you have acted like you were uninterested in Ladybug, but in reality, you two were together! Even around the team you acted like you didn’t care about our argument on who she cared about more, because obviously you already knew that answer!”

At first her words weren’t making any sense, and slowly he pieces together her whole statement and realizes a secret that should have been obvious to him. “You’re Rena Rouge.” He whispers. 

Of course, Alya would be involved in the team’s fight. She has loved and looked up to Ladybug since she first arrived, has a blog dedicated to her, has risked her life to help Ladybug, and the first person Ladybug has trusted with a miraculous. No wonder he hasn’t seen her throwing herself at akumas lately, she was there as Rena the whole time.

“Yeah, I am. Surprised?” She says bitterly. 

“You have it all wrong. Ladybug and I are not dating. She was having a rough time yesterday after the little fight that broke out. Hell, she was crying in every picture that those civilians managed to take! As a good _friend_ , I was trying to comfort her!”

“Then explain the kiss!”

“It was on the cheek and she was thanking me! It meant nothing to the both of us!”

Alya looks away from him. “Just… don’t talk to me for the rest of the day.” She runs off towards the school.

“Merde.” Nino whispers to himself.

He walks back to school alone and enters the building. Across the hall Marinette gives him a strange and undecipherable look that he feels like he should know what she is communicating to him, but his brain is fried from the morning that he has already had. _She is probably wondering what is going on with Alya, and I definitely can’t let anyone in on that secret._  

The rest of the day continues awkwardly, and it does not make it any better that everywhere he goes he is hearing about the Ladybug and Carapace situation. It makes him more bitter, Adrien weirdly gets sadder, Alya burns with rage, and Marinette looks uneasy. Alya he could understand why she acted the way she did, but the other two are an anomaly. He assumes Adrien just gets sadder about his own love life every time someone else’s relationship is brought up. Then with Marinette, well she has always been a firm believer of ensuring the heroes have privacy in their lives, which Nino currently wishes more people were like. She must be annoyed that their privacy has been broken.

By the time the end of the day arrived, Nino couldn’t be happier. He was tense and on edge the whole day, and now he is speed-walking away from the school and everyone in it. Sure, he wishes to talk to Alya to maybe make up and make out, but one look at her face says that he probably should not approach her yet. _Maybe Alya will be calm once I’m done patrol, so I can visit her, if Queen Bee doesn’t murder me first._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am in the middle of doing midterms right now, and I have no impulse control so a new chapter will definitely come out by the end of the week. If it doesn't, please feel free to kill me!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Carapace vs Queen Bee  
> Ladybug vs Chat Noir

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honour of Queen Bee finally being in the show, here is a chapter full of her! I did small edits in the first chapter just to make it have more sense with what is going on currently in the show, but the spoilers should be minor I think. Anyways, enjoy me putting my children through angst and letting them bond!

“Should I really go? Maybe I should just call in sick, or say I have a family emergency. Oh!” Nino snaps his fingers, “I could say I have explosive diarrhea because Queenie hates talking about poop.” Nino is pacing around his room. He stops when Wayzz floats in front of his face.

“Or, Master Nino, you could face your problems and try to get your team on your side. Tearing apart the group will only cause more problems, not only in your life, but throughout Paris too.” 

“Ugh. I know, but I don’t want to do this. Can’t I just call in an emergency meeting tomorrow?” Nino whines as he throws himself to his bed, wishing that he could just sleep the problem away.

Wayzz lands himself on Nino’s chest, and peers up at him. “You know that will only make things worse. It is easier to discuss this with everyone individually. You have already spoken to Alya this morning, albeit not a very good conversation, but you got her to think. Talk to Queen Bee now and Alya again later. If you truly want Paris to believe that you and Ladybug are not dating, then you need your team to back on that point too.” 

Nino looks down on where Wayzz has gotten himself comfortable. “Dude, you are way too smart. Why aren’t you the one who is giving out advice instead of me?

Wayzz giggles and flies off of Nino. With a big grin he says, “Now, Master, I believe it is time for patrol.”

“Yeah, alright. Wayzz, shell on!” 

One bright green light later and Carapace is struggling to get his shell out of the window. _Why do I always forget to transform outside instead?_ After a good minute of trying to shove his shell out, he finally makes it free of his home and is running towards the lion’s den. _Or should I say bee’s hive? Ugh, Chat Noir is really rubbing off on me._

Carapace tries his best to avoid being seen by any civilian, not wanting to bring even more attention to him. Every time he hears someone call out for him he runs. Sure, it could be an emergency, but they could also be wanting to talk about his ‘relationship’ with Ladybug. He really hopes it is the latter and didn’t accidentally let a civilian get mugged.

Landing on the roof that they usually meet each other on he wonders where Queen Bee is. She tends to always arrive before everyone. Queenie uses her celebrity status as a superhero to her own personal advantage. She transforms early and walks the streets of Paris, hearing people praise her and taking selfies with her hive; which is what she calls her fans. Carapace thinks that people are still wary of her as Chloe, but everyone likes her as Queen Bee. She needs to get attention from somewhere in her life. 

He continues to think about Queenie until he gets kicked in the back and falls off a building. He lands roughly and tumbles. He groans as he pushes himself off the sidewalk. Looking up to the building that he was just on, he sees Queen Bee standing there with her arms crossed. From a distance she looked pleased, and Carapace knew that she was the one that launched him off the roof. 

He lifts himself off the ground and jumps up to the roof. Glaring at Queen Bee, he asks, “What the hell was that for, dude?”

Giving him an equally menacing look, she says, “That is just part one of my revenge.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

He finds out exactly what she means once she starts beating him up. They have trained together before and know exactly what each other’s strengths and weaknesses are. 

“Come on, Queenie, quit it!” Carapace yells as he blocks another one of her offense attacks. 

She stops her attack, but the look on her face hurt more than any punches that she gave him. “No. This whole time we thought that you didn’t care about Ladybug in that way. We thought we didn’t have any more competition. You knew that I was in love with her and you just let me make a fool out of myself while you actually managed to get the girl. This whole time you thought you were above us, but in reality, you were just trying to get on her good side. Well congratulations, you did it!” Halfway through her speech, tears begin to drip down her face. 

“You have it all wrong! Everyone is misreading this whole situation! Ladybug and I are not together. She turned to me to cry to because of the argument on Friday night. Also, we never kissed! It was dark outside, and we were far away, so of course those civilians thought that we did.”

She looks at him skeptically. “How do I know you are telling the truth? For all I know you could be lying to play all of us again.”

Carapace throws his arms in the air and shouts, “It’s because I’m dating Rena Rouge!” 

Queen Bee looks surprised at that. “You’re what?”

“I didn’t exactly know that she was Rena until this morning, but she has known that I was Carapace this whole time. Now we are fighting, so can we please hurry up at get to patrol so I can go visit my girlfriend?” 

Still shocked, all she says is, “Sure.”

They patrol in silence for a while until Queen Bee finally speaks up. “So, you are the boyfriend that Rena talks about all the time.” 

“Yup.” He says briefly, not really feeling into having a conversation about this. 

“She always mentioned having a boyfriend, but I never heard you talking about having a girlfriend. I always thought that you were another loser like Char Noir that could never get anyone to like them.” She says bluntly. 

Carapace rolls his eyes. “Wow, thanks, Queenie. You are so kind to me. Unlike you, I take my secret identity very seriously, which is why no one knows about my love life.” 

Queen Bee gives him an _are you serious_ look. “A couple of weeks ago you told us that you want a career in music. I don’t think that counts as keeping your identity secret.” 

He sheepishly grins at her and scratches the back of his neck. “Yeah, I guess I did. I’m trying, dude, but this whole thing is hard to keep to myself.” 

“I’m guessing pretty girlfriend did not like the scandal?” 

“She has been pissed at me all day, but I am positive that talking with her tonight will resolve our problems. Also, I do not plan for us to ever break up so keep your hands and eyes to yourself.” Carapace pokes her to get his point across. 

She slaps his finger away and says, “Why do you think I’ve only tried to get with Ladybug? Rena is hot and all, but she is sadly in love with someone else and I respect it. While Ladybug is strong, single, and the reason why I have an authority kink.” She flicks her ponytail. 

Carapace covers his ears and gags. “I did not want to know that last part.”

Queen Bee looks at him seriously. “How are you going to explain all of this to her. She seems like the type that holds grudges.” 

He groans, “I don’t even know. I told her this morning the truth about the situation, but she still avoided me the entire day! I’m just hoping that she has had enough time to process it. I don’t think it helped that I didn’t talk to her all weekend, so she has two days’ worth of rage.” 

“You ignored your girlfriend for two whole days?!”

“I was busy, and she knew that I wouldn’t be able to message her! It’s not like we have to see or talk to each other every single day!” They have established at the beginning of their relationship that each of them are individuals, and should not always be dependent on one another. It has been really helpful for him since he is introverted, and sometimes can’t make the energy to talk to her every day. Alya has been very understanding and respecting of him closing all contact with people for a few days.

“Well now you really have to fix your relationship fast, or else she will be dating me by the end of the week.”

Carapace cringes and prays to all of the kwamis that he will never see Alya and Queen Bee date. “I can get through to her, but it will be helpful for the rest of the team to be on my side too.”

Queen Bee rests her hand on his shoulder and says, “Don’t screw this up, Shellhead.” Which is probably one of the nicest phrases she has ever said to him.

He rolls his eyes anyways and sarcastically says, “Thanks,” and look around them. “Can we officially end patrol? I’ve got a girlfriend to see.”

“Yeah, alright.” He runs off as soon as those words come out of her mouth. In the distance, Carapace hears her scream, “TELL HER I SAY HI,” and chuckles to himself.

_Wow, being a superhero really gives me some strange relationship problems.”_

* * *

Marinette is sitting in her room, still panicking over the news that came out over the weekend. Her anxiety has been worse this weekend than it has ever been, but thankfully she had Tikki to talk her through everything and Master Fu to give her calming teas that help her get more level headed.

Marinette is used to being a leader and controlling her anxiety towards it, but increasing tension in the team is making her walls cave in. Before she only had to directly worry about her and Chat, and the entirety of Paris, but now with Papillon getting tougher to beat the partnership became a full team. All of them together makes defeating akumas so much easier. It became a system for them; some being offense while others stick to defense, and all directing the akuma straight into Ladybug’s yoyo and protecting any nearby civilians. As great as it is, everyone looks at Ladybug to direct them of how to defeat the akuma. So many more people and different personalities to control when they all get out of hand.

She is proud of the roster of heroes that she has made, but sometimes seeing them all the time on both patrol and school, except for Chat Noir, can be exhausting. It sucks even more that she knows them, yet they don’t know her. Today at school, Marinette saw how Alya was upset, but with the secret identity problem she couldn’t truly comfort her. She saw how Chloe had a disdainful look on her face every time someone mentioned Ladybug and Carapace, and she knows that some people purposefully did that around Chloe just to piss her off. She noticed as well that Nino seemed nervous all day. All of her friends, which does now strangely includes Chloe, were having horrible days. Yet there was nothing that she was able to do. 

Marinette hears a small, high-pitched voice coming from behind her. “You need to stop looking at social media. You are only going to give yourself another panic attack.” 

Marinette runs her fingers through her hair and rests her head on her hands. “I know, Tikki, but I need to figure out how to fix this. Should I set up a press conference?” She feels like she is back to her old self before the miraculous; unconfident and unsure of herself. 

Tikki cuddles up to her. “If that is what you think is best then I think you should do it.” 

“I don’t want to decide what is best. Sometimes I want others to do it for me.” She hears a _ding_ coming from her computer and looks up. “There has been a sighting of Chat Noir just two minutes ago. We need to go! Tikki, spots on!” 

Ladybug runs quickly to see if Chat is still in the area that he was spotted, and with her ladybug luck she found him rather quickly. 

She approaches him carefully and quietly from the back. She speaks softly as she gets close enough. “Hey, Chat. I saw online that you were out running so I came to see you.”

Chat Noir doesn’t even turn around to look at her. “Yeah, right,” he says bitterly, “Isn’t it your boyfriend’s patrol day? I think you are out to see him and not me.” 

“Chat, please hear me out,” Ladybug begs.

He ultimately looks at her with a painful expression on his face. “I finally get it now. You told me before that relationships are much easier as civilians, and that you liked someone else. I just never expected that you would actually give him a miraculous. You know, you could have just told me,” his voice cracks, “I wouldn’t have cared. I’ve trusted you this whole time with choosing other miraculous holders, but it seems like you couldn’t trust me with this.”

“You’re wrong, Chat! He is not the guy that I like! You and the rest of Paris are misreading this entire situation!”

“How can you prove that to me?” He crosses his arms.

Ladybug tries to control herself, and mentally puts together her answer. “Do you remember when we would meet up late at night and just talk and cry to each other about how stressful this life can be? I needed that on Friday, and Carapace was the only one that stuck around for it. He was trying to calm me down, and that kiss was me kissing him on the cheek as a thank you.” 

She leans against a wall up on the roof. “I never meant for other permanent miraculous carriers to exist. I wanted them as a last resort resource for when we can’t beat the akuma. When the team was created I was hoping that we would both share the responsibilities. And not to say that you aren’t responsible! You have been very helpful! It’s just I feel like the others, including you, have been looking towards me for all the solutions. This is still too overwhelming for me. I don’t know how to lead, especially when the team is always fighting. Is it me that is doing something wrong?”

Ladybug begins to tear up, and Chat Noir pulls her into a hug. “I’m so sorry. You are doing the best you can, and I should have been the one to diffuse the fight. We barely ever have patrols alone together, so I guess I never realized it. I should be helping you more, but with an entire team now I just thought that you didn’t really need me anymore.”

She pulls away from the hug to look at him. “Why would you think that? You are still my partner, I will always need you and I will never stop needing you. I care about you too much, Kitty.”

“I care about you too, My Lady.” Chat Noir leans forward and rests his forehead against Ladybug’s. She feels warmth spread through her and realizes how much she has missed just being around him. They stand like that for a minute before Chat Noir breaks the silence. “So… you are not actually dating Carapace, right?”

Ladybug giggles. “No, Chat, I’m not.” She gives him a bright smile before saying, “Maybe I can let you in on a small secret. Carapace and Rena Rouge are actually dating,” She whispers into his ear.

Chat Noir looks shocked. “Are you kidding? Is that why Rena is always checking out his butt even though she has a boyfriend?”

Ladybug gives out a heartfelt laugh at that. “Yeah, I suppose that is the reason. She knew his civilian identity this whole time, but he had no idea about hers. Whenever we patrolled together we would laugh about it. I have a feeling that he found out today though, and it will not be a secret much longer.”

Chat gives a small smile at that. “I’m sorry about accusing you of not trusting me, and for me not trusting you.”

Ladybug reaches up to caress the skin below his mask. “It’s ok. We just need to have a more open and communicative relationship now.”

In a joking manner he says, “Does that mean we have to spend a lot more alone time together?” Chat gives her a devilish smile.

She rolls her eyes and pushes him away by putting a finger to his nose. “Come on, Kitty. I bet I can beat to l’Arc de Triomphe!” 

Off they raced into the night, laughing along the way and showing off cool tricks. Neither one has felt this happy for a long time, and their world was finally in balance once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's bee friends! Follow me on tumblr under nani-lahiffe


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino finally talks to Alya...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Sorry it has been a while. University has been slowly destroying my mental health, but I am back with a new chapter!

Carapace stands on the rooftop across from Alya’s window. From his perch he can see her at her desk doing the homework that was assigned earlier in class. He was so confident in talking to her half an hour ago, but now he is nervous. Many questions start going through his mind, and he stands there wondering if she even wants to see him. The door to her balcony is open as if she is expecting him to enter. 

Without lifting her head, Alya loudly says, “Are you just going to stand out there or are you going to come in?” She then looks directly at him. 

Carapace gulps and jumps up on her balcony. Alya comes to stand right in front of him. They stand like that, staring at each other, for a while. Neither knowing what to say. 

Alya breaks the silence first, “Nino.” Her voice is quiet and uncertain, nothing like it was that morning when she yelled at him. Hearing her speak like that broke his heart all over again. 

Hearing his real name when he still has the mask on is also startling. “Alya,” he says with a look of longing on his face. 

She takes a deep breath, “Detransform, so I can actually see you.” 

A bright green light flashes over him. Carapace disappears, and Nino is standing there in a t-shirt and sweat pants. Wayzz floats beside him and nudges him to encourage Nino to say something. “Um, this is my kwami, Wayzz.” 

Wayzz bows his head towards Alya, “How do you do?” 

“Hi, Wayzz. Trixx, come on out!” Alya calls out. 

Trixx comes rushing in. “Hey there, old man,” they say to Wayzz.

“Trixx, we are almost the same age. With that logic and considering our lifespan next to our human friends, we are both very old,” he says wisely.

“Yup,” Trixx looks up to Alya, “this is why he is an old man.” 

Wayzz looks at Trixx unimpressed. “Well, maybe it is best if Trixx and I leave you alone, Master Nino.” Wayzz nods his head towards Nino.

Not having to worry about the kwamis during this conversation calms a bit of his nerves. “Thanks, little dude.”

“Come along, we have a lot of catching up to do.” Both kwamis fly away to the balcony, closing the door behind them to give their holders some privacy. 

“Master Nino?” Alya questions and crosses her arms.

“Yeah, it’s his thing.” Nino replies.

He is suddenly feeling incredibly awkward and has no idea where to place himself in the room. Usually when he would go over he would jump onto her bed and lie there for hours. Now he doesn’t know how comfortable Alya would feel about that. 

He clears his throat. “So, uh, anyone home?” 

“No, no. My parents wanted a date night of just the two of them, and Nora took the twins out for some bonding time.” She rubs her arms, which is a nervous tick that Nino has identified in her throughout their time together. 

He nods. “I guess I should, you know, start talking about what happened.”

Alya nods at that. “Yeah, maybe you should. Come, sit on my bed.” She does not look as angry as she was that morning, which relieves Nino.

He sits down and turns his body towards her. His heart is pounding, and he feels as if it is shaking his whole body. “I am going to explain everything, but I don’t want you to interrupt. Just let me say everything before you make an opinion.”

He faintly hears, “Ok,” before going into the story.

“Friday was definitely not a good day for anyone. You know how much I’ve hated that stupid Ladybug argument. Like, yes, Ladybug is amazing and lovely, but is she really worth fighting over?” Alya looks away from him at that statement, and Nino remembers that she is sometimes one of those perpetrators.

“Anyways, she was upset. When everyone left for the night she just cried, and I didn’t know what to do. She told me that I was the only one that she could trust at that moment. I couldn’t leave her like that, so I tried to comfort her. She has been so overwhelmed about leading the team and us not getting along, and I feel shitty about it. I wish I could do more and that I knew how to help her. I tried giving her advice, but my advising skills aren’t always the best.” Alya gives a breathy laugh, which makes a small smile show on Nino’s face.

“All of that eventually leads up to what the internet is calling ‘the kiss of the century’,” he says sarcastically. “I don’t really know why Ladybug did it, but I do know it was her own way of thanking me. She kissed my cheek, and not where everyone thinks she did. It was quick. Definitely no lingering, if you are scared that she might like me.

“Honestly, that was it. She cried, I hugged her, I gave advice, she pecked me on the cheek, and she left. I don’t like her. Romantically! Obviously, I like her, she’s our team leader. Also, why would I care about her feelings if I didn’t like her? I just mean, I like her platonically.” Nino cringes. He was doing so well, and he ruined his calm attitude at the last second.

Alya looks up to him, and he can’t pick out how she is feeling. Her face is completely neutral. “Those civilians on the roof, that took the pictures, saw everything wrong?” 

“It’s not like they were that close to us. We didn’t even notice that they were there! And Alya, you are the only girl that I will ever care about. I want to be by your side forever, and not even an akuma can break us apart.”

Alya cups his cheeks in her hands. “Nino, I believe you. What you told me this morning got me thinking the rest of the day. Then I was going to find you while you were on patrol, but I found Ladybug and Chat Noir instead. I know I shouldn’t have, but I listened in on their conversation. Yours and Ladybug’s stories match.” 

A big smile appears on Nino’s face. He leans closer to Alya and puts a hand on her thigh. He whispers, “Does this mean I can kiss you now?”

She closes the gap between them. Both were afraid of losing the other before, so they kiss slowly trying to show as much love as they can in the kiss. Alya runs her fingers through his hair, and he relaxes further into the kiss. It’s not the fireworks that are described in songs, but that is what makes it so much better. Kissing Alya is comfortable and feels natural. It can destress him at any time and makes him feel like he belongs somewhere, like he is wanted.

They pull away and Nino sees the softest expression on Alya. A look that is probably showing up on his own face. “Let’s put a pause on that, and hopefully replay it later. I still want to talk about what happened.”

Alya leans back. “Ok, what else is there to say?” 

“I guess I still feel bad about not telling you about being Carapace. I get that you may not trust me anymore. I withheld a huge secret from you and I was never honest about half of what I was doing.” Nino rubs his hands to get rid of some of his nervous energy. 

Alya laughed at that. “Well, it’s not like I’m any better. In fact, I am much worse! Not only did I keep my identity a secret, but I never told you that I knew yours.” Her tone of voice got more serious. “And I don’t blame you for this either. Our identities had to remain a secret. What if Papillon got to us and forced us to spill on everyone’s identities. The less we know the better.” 

Nino looks away from her. “I know that, but aren’t you afraid that all this secret keeping has maybe ruined our relationship? We haven’t been open or had an honest conversation ever since we have been doing this full time. I’m afraid that you aren’t going to trust me anymore.”

She turns his head so he is facing her. “Babe, do you still trust me after finding out I was Rena Rouge?”

“Of course I do, but I’m just scared that I have gotten used to lying to you.”  

She strokes his cheek as she says, “It’s going to be ok. We can be honest now, and if there is a problem we will just talk about it. We have gotten through so much. We can get through this too.”

“I love you,” he says as gives her a brief kiss.

Alya gives a small smile, then a look of discomfort appears. “I guess I need to apologize for a couple of things too.” 

Nino is confused. “Like what?” 

“Like the fact that I accused you of being in love with Ladybug.”

“Hey, that’s not a problem. Of course you would think that when those pictures came out. Even I was shocked!”

Alya lets out a deep sigh. “Yeah, but I should have actually talked to you about it instead of accosting you at school and then ignoring you the rest of the day!” 

“You had to think about it. You were heart broken and I didn’t talk to you the whole weekend. I would say that your rage was justified.” He reaches over a tousles her hair.

She smacks his hand away from her and scoffs, “I do not rage.”

Nino looks at her in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? Alya, you are always overflowing with emotion and are on a consistent level of anger.” As if to prove his point she glares at him. “You may not let it out on others, but every time we are together you are always pissed off about something new.” 

Alya crosses her arms. “I am not.” 

Nino already has a list in his head that can prove her wrong. “Last week when we went on a walk and that group passed us.”

“There were eight of them and they could have created a single or double filed line to pass by us. Instead they walked in a clump and a person walked into me,” she said irritated. 

“What about the day after during lunch, and you were complaining about that show you like? 

“I had a right to complain! They apparently had to reschedule,” she says sarcastically. “They promised us that it would come out that day, and they still decided to cancel it like they cancel almost every other episode!” 

“How about-” 

“Ok, Nino, I get it! So minor inconveniences bug me. Is it really that bad to deal with?” Alya’s shoulders drop and she looks sad.

Nino gently cups her face and softly says, “That’s not what I was getting at. I love you and the fire inside of you. I have seen you use that same rage against akumas, both in costume and out. I have seen you do some stupidly brave things, and though I still hate it when I see you chase an akuma out of costume, I know that you can handle it. I love you, Alya, and that is never going to stop. We are open books now, no secrets.” His voice becomes playful, “Also, midnight rendezvous could be fun.” Nino winks at her.

She laughs at that. Throughout his mini speech, Alya started to sniffle. “I love you too, Nino. I love how fit you are for your miraculous, because you are a literal shield. You protect everyone you care about, no matter how scary and tough your opponents are. Like standing up to Gabriel Agreste every time there is a small inconvenience to Adrien. You hug me whenever there is an akuma, and I know that is you trying to make me feel safe. I also saw you out of costume fighting to get me back when Nora was akumatized. You have a big enough heart that even Ladybug trusted you to cry to.”

Nino hugs her tightly and drags her further on the bed so they are both laying down. He is on his back and Alya is curled up beside him, resting her head on his chest. Nino runs his fingers through her hair and massages her scalp. She sighs in contentment and snuggles up closer to him. The rest of the tension that he had in him that whole day was finally released. 

Alya breaks the silence. “There is something else that I need to apologize for.”

Nino looks down on her, confused since he thought that they have already covered everything. “What’s wrong?” 

She shifts uncomfortably, and without looking at him she says, “My whole behaviour towards Ladybug. I know I was kind of a part of the argument before. It’s not like I am in love with her like Queenie and Chat, but she has always meant so much to me. I am constantly looking up to her, and I have dedicated my whole to her. Hell, I even run a blog about her! I guess I’m afraid that one day she is going to stop caring about me, and think that I’m a stupid fan that always gets in her way. I don’t want to let her down. It also doesn’t help that my future reporting career will go down the drain if she starts ignoring the Ladyblog.”

“That’s never going to happen. She obviously cares about you too. If she didn’t she wouldn’t have given you the miraculous.”

Alya’s voice goes quiet. “Sometimes I think that she only gave it to me because it was my sisters that were akumatized.”

Nino knows how that feels. He too has wondered if he only got his miraculous the first time because he was the only one available at that moment. If he would have been replaced if there was someone closer to the akuma at the time. Or maybe he was only chosen because he is so close to Alya. He’s made his peace with the fact that he will never truly know the reason behind Ladybug choosing him, but it seems that it still haunts Alya constantly.

Sitting a bit more up he tells Alya, “Actually look at me, Alya.” Once she repositions herself to see him he says, “It doesn’t matter why you were chosen the first time. Maybe she did it because they were your sisters. Maybe it was because you were the first person she saw. The only thing that matters is that she trusted you enough to give your miraculous back to you. You know Ladybug probably better than I do, and you know that she would never give you a miraculous again if you didn’t do well the first time.” 

Alya sighs, “I know that, but the thought still scares me.”

He kisses her forehead. “I understand. Now if we are done, I would like to go back to cuddling with my beautiful girlfriend.”

She kisses him softly for a short time. When she pulls away she has the biggest smile on her face, which makes Nino smile too. “We can only cuddle for a bit. I don’t feel like getting in trouble for sneaking you into our home while everyone is away.” 

Nino laughs as they lie back down. “I have seen your mother cook. She is terrifying with her knives, and I definitely don’t feel like getting castrated today.” 

Alya snorts, “Yeah, she has definitely threatened you with that a couple of times.”

Nino pretends to shudder. “Your father would probably also let his panther eat me too.” 

“Only Kim has that privilege.” 

“Oh yeah, how could I forget the reason we got together?”

Alya looks up at him fondly, “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The sounds of knocking comes from outside Alya’s window. Trixx’s muffled voice yells, “Can we come in now? It’s getting cold outside!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made Trixx's pronouns they/them because voice actors for them tend to be both male and female, so I made them neither! 
> 
> Also I think there is only going to be one chapter left, but I'm also the one that meant for this to be a one-shot and here we are...


End file.
